The Flog – The Fabry Log

Here's more information about Levi. This is from his mother's email that I will not include, but just highlight.

Day One was difficult after the surgery. He was hungry and wanted to go home with the other children. He cried, but that was good for him to show emotion rather than being lethargic.

Day Two saw lots of improvement. When some monitors were removed, he could sip water. Later it was chicken broth. Then apple juice, 2 popsicles, green jell-o, ginger ale, and beef broth.

Day Three. The central line was removed and he walked two laps around the unit. He colored, painted, and drew with markers, then played with several action figures.

Day Four (Friday). The plan was to eat solids and keep walking. If all goes well he will be discharged tonight!

And now, a special message from Levi's mother.

The verse I leave you with tonight is the one that we prayed since we learned of Levi's heart defects and impending surgery, Psalm 31:24:
"Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord."

Each of us needed our hearts strengthened in different ways--Levi's physically; Mommy's emotionally; Daddy's mentally; and we'd tell the children, "Lean on Jesus during this time and turn to Him for your comfort and strength," so for the children, spiritually. We encourage you with it tonight in your own lives--in whatever manner you need strengthening.

I asked God to teach me to run and he broke my legs.

I asked God to teach me to love and he broke my heart.

I asked God to teach me to live and he gave me a disease.

I asked God to teach me to give and he took away almost everything I owned.

I asked God to teach me to communicate more effectively and he shut my mouth.

I asked God to make me more like Jesus and he let me be betrayed.

I asked God to give me invaluable treasures and my wife got pregnant.

I asked God to give me direction and he sent me to the desert.

I asked God to tell me the most important thing I could do today and he sent me to my knees.

I asked God to give me more faith and he gave me more pain.

I asked God to make me great and he made me weak.

Don’t ask God anything you don’t want God to do.


Copyright 2010 Chris Fabry

I’ve been reading some Psalms lately. A friend is going through a rough patch and I emailed this message for encouragement and I thought it might help you, too.

My thought was this: our lives are like rivers that need to be filled, channeled, and at times, redirected. God is the one who can accomplish all of that, but the process is not easy. It’s not comfortable to be pushed toward a different destination than we had planned.

It’s for our own good that God redirects us and floods our life. These verses stuck out to me today.

Psalm 126: 4-6
4 Restore our fortunes, O LORD,
like streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow in tears
will reap with songs of joy.
6 He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him.

I've known those verses for a long time, but am just seeing them fresh today. It reminds me of the hymn, “Like a River Glorious.” God doesn’t promise to restore all of our possessions, but if our fortune is God’s peace, he gives that abundantly, overflowing, like the wash here in the desert. It’s dry most of the year but it only takes about ten minutes of rain to get the stream gushing.


Whatever you’re going through, God is at work in your life. I don’t know the next step or how the story will unfold, but I do know that if you lay back in the flood of God’s mercy and grace, he will ultimately get the glory for what you’re going through.

Sow your seeds today in tears. The river is rising. And the one who controls the waters is walking with you.

Levi had his surgery today. It was a tough day for Levi's parents. He was at the hospital only a little time when he said to his dad, "I'm ready to go home."

This afternoon we got the news that Levi made it through surgery and the doctor said he did what he wanted to do with the heart surgery. Levi is in a room in intensive care and is being observed.

He isn't out of the woods and his recovery will take weeks, but the family is very grateful for the prayer support. Thank you for praying for him.

I’m speaking at a men’s breakfast tomorrow. It’s my first speaking engagement since forever. I honestly can’t recall the last time I was asked to speak in front of anyone about anything. No one knows us here. Well, almost no one. But Andy does, my friend from England. And his wife listens to my program and they thought I would be a good speaker.

I’m going to talk about the parallels between my family’s story and the Drew Brees book. When I was asked to help write that and then went through the interviewing and writing process, I couldn’t help but think that God has a sense of humor and timing. What we went through with our home, our health, mold, and all the setbacks and bills, uniquely gave me the vision to tell Drew’s story. I'm still surprised I got to do it. There are so many better writers out there.

There were moments when I was talking with Drew when I just had to laugh. I couldn’t hold it in because the things he was talking about regarding adversity were things I had lived in a totally different way. In a sense, writing that book was my Super Bowl experience after what should have ended my career. God had a different plan.

I’m going to tell the guys tomorrow what happened to Drew. I’m going to rehearse what happened to us. And then I’m going to try and help them apply that to their own adversity, whatever that is. I believe God lets us go through these things to help make us stronger. But he also has another item on the agenda.

In Psalm 119 I was struck this morning by these verses.

67 Before I was afflicted I went astray,
but now I obey your word.

71 It was good for me to be afflicted
so that I might learn your decrees.

As hard as it is to see it this way, I’m grateful for mold. I’m grateful for the difficulties we’ve faced. What happened has brought me closer to God than I even wanted. In another verse it talks about God being “our portion.” I know that from experience, not just from reading it. And I've learned that when I have him as my portion, no one can take that away. And I have a future. And I have unlimited hope.

That’s what I want to convey to my audience tomorrow. It’s a message that will mix well with a few men, eggs and sausage. It might be one you need to hear, too.

I'm meeting a couple of friends today to talk about books I want to write. Ideas have been spewing from my brain and I feel the well filling. In preparation, I looked through some old files from computers that have long ago given up the microprocessors. One file I found is from way before any of the mold stuff ever happened to us. It was a non-fiction idea that I was massaging at the time that has never been seen by anyone but my agent and me. Here’s the book as I conceived it a few years ago:

THE PLACE OF ABUNDANCE
FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVE BEEN BURNED, WALKED ON, AND LEFT BEHIND

I would first define abundance. It’s not material possessions or a big house, but contentment of the soul. Then, in each chapter, we’d look at Biblical characters who faced adversity (Joseph, Job, Paul), and compare those with modern-day believers who have had their teeth kicked in by life or the church or both.

The basis for the book is Psalm 66:8-12:

Praise our God, O peoples,
let the sound of his praise be heard;
he has preserved our lives
and kept our feet from slipping.

For you, O God, tested us;
you refined us like silver.

You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.

You let men ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a place of abundance.

This entry is uncanny to me, looking at it now. I think God was preparing us for a test, a refinement, a prison and some burdens. He let some men ride over our heads and lead us through fire and water. And even though we're not fully through yet, we have abundance because we have Him.

Amen.

There are times in life when you feel like you’re thrashing in choppy water, just trying to breathe. There are other times when the waters are raging that you feel like you’re being buoyed by something greater than yourself.

I received an email and phone call earlier this year asking if I would be available to help write a memoir. I’m always open to writing projects, but at the time I was busy with radio and other writing duties. I try to leave room to say yes to such things. A mentor of mine, Jerry Jenkins, always said to work a little harder and get things done. You have no control over the projects that come your way or the timing of them.

As it turned out, the book was with Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints. The publisher was hammering out the details of the contract, but it would be a quick project. I had about a month to write it. Drew, Brittany, and his agent, Chris, chose Tyndale House. In a Sports Illustrated article I read yesterday, Peter King got it right. Here’s his quote from Brees:

"It's funny. When I was first approached about doing a book, I thought, 'I want to sell a million books.' You know, you become a competitor about it. Then I started thinking of it the way I thought of the draft. When you come out of college, you want to be drafted as high as possible. But after you get into it, you understand it's more important to go to the best team for you than how high you go. So now, I'm more concerned with how this book will affect people and maybe influencing people facing the same obstacles I had in my career."

Read more of the Peter King article here.

That’s exactly what I’m hoping this book does. Sure, it would be great to sell a boatload. But we’re hoping it gets in the hands of one person who feels like they can’t stand up another day and face life. I’m praying it finds its way not just to store shelves, but into the hearts of people who have been beaten down by the economy and life. It’s not just a book about football. It’s a story of someone who was willing to face challenges and go where he believed God was calling.

I don’t know about you, but I need to hear that kind of story. To me, this is Seabiscuit with a #9 on his jersey. It’s about the kid who was too small to succeed who couldn’t be stopped. A horrific injury should have ended his career in 2005, but he came back. A storm that swept over a city and devastated it should have signaled the end, but it didn’t. And now an oil spill threatens to do the same thing to a coastline.

Drew’s story shows we’re strongest when we realize our weaknesses. It describes the power of getting up after you’re knocked down. And when you get knocked down again, rising to your feet another time. If you’re down today, you’re in good company. A lot of people have their face on the canvas. The question is, will you be one of the few who will choose to stand? There is power in adversity. Will you let it help you become a better and more rounded person?